Exercise Helps Eliminate PMS Symptoms

Exercise has many healthy advantages including reducing, or eliminating, the symptoms of PMS!

PMS is caused by an imbalance in the two hormones that control our menstrual cycle: estrogen and progesterone. This imbalance may be due to:

Excessive amounts of these hormones

Insufficient quantities of these hormones

Inability to properly metabolize these hormones

Impaired excretion and elimination of these hormones

How Does Exercise Help?

First, let's look at the causes of hormonal imbalance. High levels of estrogen or progesterone can come from sources outside of your body, like foods or medications, but generally they are produced by your body. Your ovaries are the primary production site of estrogen and progesterone. Additionally, estrogen is produced and stored in f-a-t tissue. This means the more f-a-t cells you have, the more estrogen you produce and store! Regular aerobic exercise such as running or cycling, along with a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables, not only burns f-a-t, but reduces your body's ability to over produce estrogen. So, a healthy diet and exercise program is not only an essential part of weight control but it enhances your mood!

Your liver plays an important role in removing excess hormones from your body. It breaks down estrogen and progesterone so that they can be eliminated. Caffeine, alcohol, fat and sugar can clog up your liver and prevent it from cleansing your body of excess hormones. Exercise encourages your liver to detoxify itself. In addition to exercise, botanicals such as dandelion, milk thistle, artichoke, and fennel support healthy liver function.

Constipation can also contribute to a hormone level imbalance. When hormones are broken down in the liver, they are excreted through the intestines. However, constipation causes the waste to remain in the intestines too long enabling hormones and other toxins to be reabsorbed into the body. Exercise stimulates peristalsis, or the muscle contractions that move waste through your intestines. Getting plenty of water and fiber in your diet also increases peristalsis. A little extra psyllium fiber will bind to hormones in the intestines and aid in their removal.

Research has shown that women who exercise regularly experience fewer PMS symptoms plus have shorter and lighter periods. As little as 20 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week is enough to help mitigate the symptoms of PMS. Ideally, you should be exercising 30 to 60 minutes five days a week. And no cheating! Make sure that you are exercising all month long and not just when the PMS starts. Not only will a great diet and exercise routine enhance your mood, but it will make you look and feel great too! That's a WIN/WIN!